


Daily Spray

by Maaarken



Category: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Marvel, Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at science, Fluff, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Sorry, Littlest bit of angst, M/M, Miscommunication, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Teen and up for swear words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 10:32:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13588224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maaarken/pseuds/Maaarken
Summary: In which Peter thinks Johnny is having second thoughts and confronts him.





	Daily Spray

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the Issue #8 of the Fantastic Four (1961), by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Peter was waiting, seated on the flame of the Liberty Statue. He took his phone out of his suit to look at the time it was. Uh, Johnny was two minutes late. Well, it was nothing surprising. Usually Peter was also late. Being a superhero meant always being late. But not this time. This time, Peter had shown up more than half an hour 3 early, just to be sure to arrive on time.

 

Since Johnny and him had started dating, it had been a true bliss. Peter had been scared of making a move for a long time, but one day he had been sick of hiding and sick of keeping secrets. He had kissed Johnny when they were alone, here on top of the flame. Johnny had been so suprised that he’d flamed on. The blonde was still embarrassed to this day that he’d had to calm himself and smother the flames before he could return the kiss. Peter had also told him about his secret identity. Johnny had taken it relatively well. 

 

Since then, they had been happy. They were best friends and in love with each other, and there was nothing that could go wrong. Until Peter had realized that Johnny never wanted to spend the night with him. Johnny would always make up excuses as to why he had to leave. Or he would make up excuses as to why Peter couldn’t stay for the night, when they were in the Baxter Building. At first, Peter had not realized that something was wrong, because he was naive and some excuses seemed legit. But as time went on, the excuses became weirder and weirder.

 

Peter just wanted to spend a night in his boyfriend’s arms, instead of feeling like a dirty secret that was to be kept hidden away from sight. Because it was hard not to feel like a dirty secret.

 

No one knew Peter Parker was dating the Torch, as that would have rendered useless Peter’s decision to keep his identity secret. The whole secret identity thing served to protect his friends and Aunt May from supervillains and Spidey-haters. If he painted a giant target on himself by publicly dating a superhero, they would be endangered.

 

Johnny had understood, even though he hadn’t been happy about it. He’d said he wanted to scream his love on the rooftops, or write it in the sky with flames. Yet now he acted like he was glad no one knew about Peter and him. He was always sketchy and uneasy whenever it was just the two of them, late at night.

 

Peter was sick of it, and had decided it was time for them to talk about it. If Johnny was having second thoughts about their relationship, then Peter deserved to know. It was why he was waiting on the flame, as the number on the screen of his phone changed, minutes after minutes. Ten minutes late. Fifteen minutes late. Twenty minutes late.

 

Johnny showed up 28 minutes late, which was okay by superhero standards, but less so by we-need-to-talk standards.

 

“Here you are!” exclaimed Peter, rising from where he had been sitting.

“Sorry I’m late. Some dumb shits decided to rob a bank.”

 

Peter had just spent 58 minutes sitting in the same spot, practicing ways he could tell Johnny. However, he simply blurted out:

 

“We need to talk.”

 

Johnny froze.

 

“What?”

“Are you having second thoughts about us?” Peter said, abandoning any thought of one day being tactful.

“What? No! Why would I be?” protested Johnny, stepping forward.

“You’re not?” repeated Peter, surprised.

“No, I’m not. Why would I be? I love you.”

“But you never want to sleep with me!” said Peter, like it explained everything.

 

Johnny takes a deep breath.

 

“Peter. Please don’t pull a we-need-to-talk if you want us to have sex more often. “I mean, I know I’m irresistible, but,” he continues, smiling and laughing and he is beautiful.

 

Peter still interrupts him, because he’s sure he doesn’t want to hear whatever Johnny is about to say.

 

“No, I mean, why don’t you want to sleep with me? As in, cuddles and spooning and all that. Isn’t it what couples do?”

“Well, yes, but we’re cooler than that, right?” says Johnny, but it sounds as empty as his excuses.

“I’m not,” protests Peter weakly. “I want to sleep in your arms, and wake up next to you in the morning. I don’t want to be alone in a cold bed when I could be sleeping next to you.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want that,” says Johnny.

 

Peter freezes. So that’s how it is. He bites back tears, glad he had not removed the mask covering his face.

 

“Oh. Ok,” he says. “I understand. I’ll just…” he mimics with his hand legs walking off.

“Peter, no!” interjects Johnny. “That’s not why I meant! What I want to say, is that I don’t want to  _ sleep _ with you.”

“That’s what I understood,” replies Peter, who doesn’t feel better after that precision.

“Argh, no, I mean, urg!” says Johnny, scratching the nape of his neck. “I love you. I love cuddling with you, and kissing you and spooning with you, whether I’m the big or small spoon. The problem is… God I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this but... “

 

Johnny breathes slowly, twice. Peter doesn’t breathe, waiting for Johnny to finish his sentence.

 

“I don’t control my power when I sleep,” admits Johnny. “It’s okay most of the time, really, but when I dream I can flame on unknowingly. You know, if it’s a nightmare or a steamy dream. But sometimes it’s a nothing that makes me flame on. Once I was dreaming I was a dragon, so you can guess what happened. The other day I dreamt I had lots of dogs and it made me so happy I burst into flames.”

“So what, do you just buy a new bed every night or so?” asks Peter, because he is still processing the information but his curious nature can’t be stopped.

“No, but I have to spray every bit of furniture in my room daily with a special chemical vapor. Reed made it for me, if you want to talk science with him.”

“I will,” says Peter absent-mindedly, as he is still processing the implications of what Johnny said.

“So…” presses Johnny, clearly expecting a reaction.

“So you love me?”

“Yes! There was never any doubt about that! You’re the one for me!”

 

Johnny steps forward and goes to kiss Peter, until he freezes, mere centimeters away from the brunette’s mouth.

 

“Uhm, can you… You know I hate kissing your mask, right?”

 

Peter laughs and removes the red mask. Then their lips meet and it’s all the reassurance Peter needs.

 

“I love you too,” he says.

“I know,” laughs Johnny. “Listen, I’m sorry about how I behaved. It’s just that… I’m not proud about the fact that I can’t fully control my flames. And it scares me. I worry that I could just  _ bam!  _ flame on when you’re in my arms. I could hurt you.”

“I have super healing. I’d be okay.”

“Oh right,  _ super healing _ . That would make waking up to the smell of burnt flesh so much better!” says Johnny. “It’s not about about whether the damage is permanent or not, Peter. It’s the fact that I could hurt you. That you could be in pain because of me. It’s the fact that if we were to sleep in the same bed, I would have to fall asleep knowing that I could wake up to your screams of pain. Pain that I would cause you.”

“If I tell you that I’ll try not to scream, but maybe just groan in pain, would that make you feel better?”

“Not really, no.”

“Well, then,” says Peter, “I’ll find something. We’ll find a solution.”

“What if there’s none?” asks Johnny. 

“There is. There has to. Or else, what will happen in twenty years, when we are married with 4 kids and 7 dogs who are so cute they make you flame on? Will we still be sleeping in different beds? Because that married life would suck.”

 

Johnny laughs and Peter smiles.

 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” says Johnny, feeling wise.

“Oh hell no, we’re not crossing that bridge in twenty years! I want to sleep with you! And I want you to feel safe when you sleep with me! Come, I have to talk special chemical vapor with Reed!”

 

Peter pressed a quick kiss to Johnny’s lips, put on his mask and ran toward the edge of the statue.

 

“Last one at the Baxter Building stinks!” he yelled as he jumped.


End file.
